3 things Sri Lanka need to do right to dominate Day 4 of 1st Test vs England
As it has sadly become typical of Sri Lankan men's cricket in the last few years, Dhananjaya de Silva's side gave another example of digging a hole for yourself, falling into it, and then using the rest of the time in crawling out of it on Day 3 of their first Test against England at Old Trafford.
They started Friday so poorly that it almost felt unbelievable and pundits rightly questioned their seriousness. Players came to the field missing half of their fielding gear, bowlers took ages to begin overs, lines and lengths were wayward, fielders were giving up threes and the second new ball was taken at logically the worst possible moment.
Even for a young captain like de Silva, it was inexusable. And it allowed England to almost run away with the game, taking a massive 122-run lead despite boasting a fairly thin lower-order.
The batters weren't much better as two wickets fell in the first two overs and two more before 100 runs were put on the board. The final session and half were spent in recovery with Angelo Mathews (65) and Kamindu Mendis surviving a few dropped catches to take Sri Lanka in the lead.
Mathews' luck ran out when umpires allowed England a questionable ball switch, with the replacement cherry carrying much more shine and offering a lot more movement than the one they had ruined with their bouncer ploys.
The day ended with Dinesh Chandimal coming back after clearing scans for fracture on his finger standing tall at 20 (28) with Mendis batting with flair at 56 (109). Sri Lanka led by 82 runs with the game's balance still in the hosts' favor.
Below, we have noted down three things the visitors need to do right to get a strong hold back of the game, in what would be the last chance to do so:
#3 Play out Woakes, don't spare Bashir, Potts
England will almost certainly open the attack with Chris Woakes on Saturday morning. The right-arm quick has already picked up five wickets in this Test and has looked the most threatening, especially with the still hard-ish switched ball.
He'd be the toughest examiner for Chandimal and Mendis and they'll have to be on survival mode against him. Despite their penchant for playing shots they'd need to understand that this Test's result is hinging on the first half an hour.
But at the same time, to avoid sitting like ducks waiting to get a magic delivery, the duo will need to take on spinner Shaoib Bashir and pacer Matthew Potts. They were the most inconsistent bowlers on Friday and would once again give opportunities to score runs.
For the remaining two -- Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood -- the strategy should be to play on the merit and wait for them to offer the loose balls, which they'd too occasionally in their attempts to be ultra agressive.
#2 Expect the short-ball ploy and turn the advantage
If England don't get wickets in the first half an hour, they'd almost certainly turn to a short-ball ploy with Wood and Atkinson and perhaps also Potts. It's the most predictable element of BazBall and Sri Lanka would need to anticipate it like that.
On Friday, Mendis and Mathews were superb against it, ducking under almost everything short from Wood and playing their shots only when they knew the ball would carry with the wind or that they'd be able to keep it down.
With the extent of Chandimal's injury still uncertain, he'd have to be patient against the bouncers while Mendis would have to be picky again. They'd need to understand that playing out this short burst of six-seven overs would result in a weared down ball which would be easier to knock around for singles and doubles to push the score.
#1 No mistakes with the new ball
Sri Lanka would need a target of around 175-200 as the bare minimum to give England a fight on the last day or even hope for a draw if rain ruins the final evening. However, how they perform after setting the target will have to be completely different from their performances early on Friday.
Those mistakes also include not giving Asitha Fernando the opening overs despite him being the best bowler on the previous day. Sri Lanka would have to start with Asitha and Prabath Jayasuriya, hoping that the latter would extract some turn with the hard ball.
de Silva would need to be on the money with his field positions and the fielders can not, in any case, afford to be lethargic or loose in supporting the bowlers else England will run away with the game. Every mistake will count as two in the final innings and Sri Lanka will have to show that they are mentally strong enough to avoid those.